Winter Sleepers (DVD, 2000)

This (to my knowledge Tom Tykwer's first film) continues to hold up as the years pass. Its beautiful photography of the snowy Bavarian Alps with its relentlessly gliding camera movement, contrasting with the supercharged warm colors of the interiors, are a visual feast by themselves. The story, which hinges on a highway accident involving the family of a farmer whose farm is failing and a young man who suffers short-term memory loss due to a head injury, strains credibility as Tykwer's plots frequently do with their multiple coincidences. But this one works for me because of the contrasting stories of the young man's growing relationship with a nurse, who happens to be sharing a house with another woman who is involved with a ski instructor at the resort where she works. The playing out of these relationships as the daughter of the farmer lies dying in the hospital where the nurse works is given great poignancy and interest by excellent performances from all the actors. The intertwining plots are too intricate to recount, besides which it would be a shame to spoil the subtle ironies in their resolution. Suffice it to say that the final shot,where the moving camera comes quietly to a halt as one of the characters asks "What does it all mean?" is a prime example of what only cinema can do.

I am not a fan of Tykwer's subsequent films, which include the gimmicky "Run Lola Run" and the willfully obscure "Warrior and the Angel" (not sure about this title). Having read the novel "Perfume" I have not been able to bring myself to even see it. But "Winter Sleepers" remains high on my list of favorites for its combination of moving story, marvelous camera work, and fine acting, all brought together by a sure directorial hand.